Information About Cisco Nexus 1000V

Cisco Nexus 1000V provides Layer 2 switching functions in a virtualized server environment. Cisco Nexus 1000V replaces virtual switches within ESX servers and allows users to configure and monitor the virtual switch using the Cisco NX-OS command-line interface (CLI). Cisco Nexus 1000V also gives you visibility into the networking components of the ESX servers and access to the virtual switches within the network.

Cisco Nexus 1000V manages a data center defined by the vCenter server. Each server in the data center is represented as a line card in Cisco Nexus 1000V and can be managed as if it were a line card in a physical Cisco switch.

Cisco Nexus 1000V has the following components:

•Virtual Ethernet module (VEM)-data plane

Each hypervisor is embedded with one VEM. The VEM is a lightweight software component that effectively replaces the virtual switch by performing the following functions:

–Advanced networking and security

–Switching between directly attached virtual machines

–Uplinking to the rest of the network

Note A license is required for every CPU on a VEM.

•Virtual supervisor module (VSM)-control plane

The VSM is a standalone, external, physical or virtual appliance that performs the following functions for the Cisco Nexus 1000V system (that is, the combination of the VSM itself and all VEMs that it controls):

–Configuration

–Management (A single VSM can manage up to 64 VEMs.)

–Monitoring

–Diagnostics

–Integration with VMware vCenter

•Licenses

The license is delivered in a Software License Claim Certificate in either e-mail or on paper.

Types of Licenses

Permanent Licenses

You can purchase permanent licenses for a fixed number of VEM CPU sockets. Permanent licenses do not expire. The number of licenses is specified in the license file purchased.

When you subsequently upgrade to a new software release, all previously installed permanent licenses remain in effect.

When you purchase permanent licenses, make sure to request enough licenses to cover all of your installed CPUs in all of your VEMs. Before licenses are applied to a VEM, enough licenses must be available to cover all of the CPUs in that VEM. If you are short by one CPU, then no licenses are applied to the VEM.

Note If your license does not have the capacity to cover all CPUs in a particular VEM, then any licenses that could have been applied to that VEM are, instead, placed into a pool of available licenses on the VSM to be used as needed. The VEM remains unlicensed until sufficient licenses are available to cover all CPUs in the VEM.

After you purchase a license package, you then install the package on your VSM. The license package shown in Table 1 is an example of a license package name.

Default Licenses

Sixteen default licenses are pre-installed in your Cisco Nexus 1000V software and are good for 60 days from the date of installation or upgrade. These default licenses let you use the Cisco Nexus 1000V for a 60 day trial period before purchasing permanent licenses.

When upgrading to a new software release, any previously installed evaluation licenses are invalidated, and the 16 default licenses included in the upgraded Cisco Nexus 1000V software are applied to your VEMs.

Default licenses are invalidated when one of the following occurs:

•You install a permanent license file or an evaluation license file.

When you install a license file, make sure it has enough capacity for all VEMs covered by your VSM.

•60 days after installation of the VSM.

Caution Service Disruption—The vEthernet interfaces on unlicensed VEMs are removed from service and the traffic flowing to them from virtual machines is dropped. This traffic flow is not resumed until you add a new license file.

If you need additional licenses to cover all VEM CPU sockets, then you must obtain either permanent licenses or evaluation licenses from Cisco.com. For more information, see the "Evaluation Licenses" section.

Evaluation Licenses

Evaluation licenses are available from Cisco.com in packages of 16 licenses that are valid for 60 days or until you upgrade to a new version of Cisco Nexus 1000V. Evaluation licenses let you evaluate the Cisco Nexus 1000V before purchasing permanent licenses.

The60-day evaluation period starts when you install the evaluation license file. Unlike default licenses, an evaluation license is not invalidated when you install a permanent license.

Evaluation licenses are invalidated when one of the following occurs:

•The licenses reach their expiration date.

•You upgrade to a new version of Cisco Nexus 1000V.

When upgrading to a new software release, any previously installed evaluation licenses are invalidated, and the 16 default licenses included in the upgraded Cisco Nexus 1000V software are applied to your VEMs.

Caution Service Disruption—If your evaluation licenses expire, your VEMs are unlicensed. The vEthernet interfaces on unlicensed VEMs are removed from service and the traffic flowing to them from virtual machines is dropped. This traffic flow is not resumed until you add a new license file.

Overdraft Licenses

Overdraft licenses can prevent a service disruption in the event you exceed the number of permanent or evaluation licenses specified in your license file. The number of overdraft licenses provided is based on the number of licenses ordered.

Volatile Licenses

The volatile license feature automatically captures unused licenses when a VEM is taken out of service and adds them to the VSM license pool so that they can be reused by another VEM. When you enable this feature, any time a VEM is taken out of service, either automatically or manually, its licenses are returned to the VSM license pool.

In contrast, if its licenses are nonvolatile, then the VEM does not release them when taken out of service. When returned to service, the VEM resumes normal activity without further interruption.

The Volatile Licenses feature is disabled by default. That is, the licenses in VEMs are nonvolatile and are not released when a VEM is removed from service.

Note Service Disruption—Volatile licenses are removed from a VEM during a loss in connectivity and are not returned to the VEM when connectivity resumes. We recommends that volatile licenses remain disabled (the default), and that you transfer unused licenses using the "Transferring Licenses to the License Pool" procedure on page 2-7.